US confirms withdrawal

The United States confirmed Sunday that it has withdrawn all B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford, a British airbase at the centre of a counter-terrorism probe after a mysterious security incident last month.

Security incident details

Police were called to the base in southwest England on 27 september after a local farmer reported a group of men with several vans engaged in "suspicious" activity.

“suspicious”

Evacuations and findings

The scare forced evacuations at 85 homes near the airbase, which was used by the United States to launch strikes on Iran. Investigators did not find any explosives in the vans, but instead "a quantity of petrol was recovered," according to counter-terrorism police.

“a quantity of petrol was recovered”

Pentagon statement

A statement from a Pentagon official said sunday "we can acknowledge now that all u.s. bombers that were deployed to raaf fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the united states."

“we can acknowledge now that all u.s. bombers that were deployed to raaf fairford have re-deployed to their home stations in the united states”

Iranian involvement speculation

Speculation about the motives behind the incident ranged from terror threat to fuel thievery, as energy prices in the uk hit record highs this week. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said there were "strong indications that iran played a part" in the incident, a charge rejected by tehran.

“strong indications that iran played a part”

Arrests and reactions

Six london-based britons arrested in the incident, including a uk-iranian dual national, were released on bail, drawing rebuke from washington. "i wouldn't have done that," us president donald trump told reporters, as his secretary of state marco rubio alleged a "foreign actor" was involved.

“i wouldn't have done that”